Lu Xue was about to go to the bus station to wait for a bus when she unexpectedly saw a black Phantom speeding past her.
She looked up and saw the car window roll down, revealing half of Mu Yuze's handsome profile.
She was a bit surprised. "Boss, why are you here? Didn't I ask Yan Hua to convey my leave request to you?"
Could it be that the boss was still angry with her and came here in person to question her?
Lu Xue suddenly felt a bit guilty. After all, she was getting such a high salary but had been on the payroll like a slacker for so long without creating any value for the boss.
It was quite possible that the boss, dissatisfied with her lack of dedication, had come all the way here to drag her back.
Mu Yuze turned his head and watched the changing expressions on Lu Xue's face for a while. Then he suddenly reached out across the window and tapped her head with his right index finger, speaking with a touch of helplessness.
"What are you daydreaming about? Hurry up and get in the car. I'll take you there."
Lu Xue asked, "Are you sure you're going to take me there? But what about your work at the company?"
"Isn't Yan Hua there to handle the work at the company? I've left everything to him."
With that, Mu Yuze opened the passenger - side door and invited Lu Xue to get in.
In the end, Lu Xue couldn't resist Mu Yuze's insistence and got into the passenger seat rather reluctantly.
Mu Yuze stepped on the accelerator, and the car sped off.
After half a day's drive, they finally arrived at the remote residence of Mr. Chen.
Since they had set off at noon and encountered some bad road conditions on the way, it was already evening when they arrived.
The sky was getting dark, and the village became extremely secluded.
Driving during the day was quite different from driving at night. At night, visibility was limited, and there were no street lights in the village. The only illumination came from the car's two headlights.
Therefore, the whole process of driving into the small mountain village was like groping for a way in a dark secret room. There was thick, impenetrable fog in front and behind.
The two people in the car were silent. They could only see a faint silhouette of the person beside them by the dim light.
As they drove on, Lu Xue couldn't help but feel a bit scared.
When the car reached a section of the mountain road, Lu Xue couldn't even tell where they were.
There was thick darkness all around, and due to the heavy fog, the light from the two headlights became dimmer.
Lu Xue even had an illusion that they had been suddenly swallowed by a cosmic black hole and entered a parallel universe. Although the car was moving forward, there seemed to be no end in sight.
Lu Xue very carefully shared this strange thought of hers, afraid that the atmosphere would become a bit eerie after she said it.
But Mu Yuze beside her let out a soft laugh. His voice had a bit of graininess, and his laugh was very charming.
"I thought you were daydreaming, so I didn't dare to chat with you rashly for fear of disturbing you. I didn't expect your mind was thinking about such things."
After laughing, Mu Yuze turned his head and said softly to Lu Xue, "We're just driving on a mountain road. Don't think too much. I'm a good driver. I've driven on many roads like this."
Lu Xue nodded, feeling a bit embarrassed.
Her brain cells were too active. She always tended to turn things into a strange scenario.
"However, I think your strange thought just now is quite good. Maybe you can use it in your own artistic creation."
Mu Yuze carefully said in a soft voice, "Yan Hua said you have great artistic talent. I think you should be good at capturing inspiration from all aspects of life."
Instinctively, Lu Xue felt that the conversation was taking a dangerous turn. If Mu Yuze delved deeper, he might find out about her career situation.
She let out a soft "um" and didn't say anything else, letting the topic pass.
They drove for about half an hour more and finally reached the village entrance. There was only a dim large lamp in front of the village shining on a stone stele.
The name of the village was written on the stele. As they drove further in, there was a dark stone - paved road. Barking dogs could be heard on both sides. Wherever their car went, the barking followed.
It felt as if they were outsiders who had intruded into the village, and the barking of these dogs was constantly telling the villagers their advancing position.
It was already a little past nine o'clock at night. Most of the villagers had gone to bed at this time.
Suddenly intruding on such a quiet night and attracting the barking of all the village dogs made Lu Xue feel a bit sorry.
One or two households turned on their lights. It seemed that they had opened their windows to look outside, but then quickly closed the windows, took their dogs back to the yard, and turned off the lights to go back to sleep.
Mu Yuze and Lu Xue drove around the village for a while and finally found Mr. Chen's address.
Although they had been here once before, the buildings they saw at night seemed different from what they remembered during the day.
Lu Xue got out of the car and looked at the house number back and forth for a long time before finally confirming that this must be Mr. Chen's house.
Lu Xue walked up and gently knocked on the door. "Hello. Is Mr. Chen at home?"